A STATEMENT ABOUT THE ATTACK OUTSIDE MANHATTAN’S REPUBLICAN CLUB

From the Mouths of Elders

We are being asked to comment about our brothers who were arrested after a confrontation on October 12th after Gavin McInnes did a satirical talk at Manhattan’s Republican Club. We have waited to speak to legal counsel before doing this and will refrain from disparaging the courts or the NY politicians who made severe allegations about our group because we don’t want to prejudice the trial. Fortunately, the facts of the case are already public and we can present them without bias.

1- The venue had been terrorized with threats and warnings since the talk was announced on Tuesday, Oct 9th. Early morning on Oct 12th, their windows were smashed, locks glued shut, keypad glued shut, and a manifesto was left including threatening language such as “This is only the beginning” and “we are not civil.” We believe this creates a climate of extreme danger where a punch or any kind of confrontation has much more gravitas.

2- At the talk, attendees were physically threatened and had to be sheltered by police. This included elderly attendees who are regular members. The only reason there was not more physical assault from the “protestors” (radical leftists including many wearing the antifa uniform of all black with covered faces) was solid police work from the NYPD.

3- After the talk, a journalist outside was mobbed by about ten antifa (or black bloc or whatever name they are using this week) who beat him and stole his equipment. Two attendees jumped in to rescue the reporter and radical leftists Finbarr Slonim, Kai Russo and Caleb Perkins were arrested. This was one of two confrontations that night.

4- After being told to wait inside until they could get antifa to disperse, Proud Boys and Gavin McInnes were allowed to leave. As they exited the venue, the protesters remaining erupted into a violent rage and had to be held back by police. They threw a bottle of urine at the car McInnes was getting in and he mocked them with a plastic sword.

5- Proud Boys were escorted separately towards the subway. After leaving protesters behind, they were all discussing what bar to go to because the night was over and everything had died down. They were not “roaming the streets” looking for a fight. A group of antifa who had been dispersed by the NYPD had circled the block and flanked about five Proud Boys who were at the tail end of the police escort.

This was not a random act. It is the culmination of days of threats and strategic violence from the left.

This is what we had all been warned was going to happen. Antifa approached about five Proud Boys and threw a bottle of urine at them. They then jumped the Proud Boys, knocked two over, and began kicking them while they were down. This is all very apparent at the beginning of the above video. After taking a few blows, the Proud Boys defended themselves – hard. It was a typical bar brawl and the police saw no need to press charges. The alleged victims made that especially clear when they told the police to go fuck themselves. We cannot understand how this is considered assault when even the “victim” insists it is not. This is not a case that should be clogging up the courts. It is a cut and dry case of self-defense.

Unfortunately, we are living in a remarkably divisive climate and there is a tendency to split Americans into two groups: freedom fighters (who hate Trump) and the Nazis (who love him). We see ourselves as both freedom fighters and patriots who love Trump. There is almost no factual media coverage about this night or us and we are frankly, quite surprised antifa has become so mainstream. They have not only infiltrated the media, they have also infiltrated the upper echelons of the judicial system and the political structure of this country. The anarchists are now the state. “War is peace and violence is anti-violence,” according to the new propaganda.

There are three myths about our club and that night we keep hearing again and again.

1- “The Proud Boys are a hate group.”

This allegation by the SPLC is repeated like a fact despite regular lawyer letters to every media source that says it. The SPLC has gathered over $432 million convincing old, rich people Nazis lie around every corner. They have been sued by Maajid Nawaz for $3.4 million. About 60 other groups (including us) are moving forward with legal action. The FBI has dumped them as a credible source (along with the ADL) and even the left-leaning Washington Post admits they have, “lost all credibility.”

Of the five Proud Boys arrested for the brawl, three of them are white (fourth is Hispanic and the fifth is Indian). Of those three, two are married to black women and have black children (we have noticed the media coverage slowed down drastically when photos of our brother with his black wife and kids went viral). We are not a hate group. We are a multi-racial men’s club full of patriots who love the West. That DOES NOT include the alt-right because the West eschews racial identity and is a meritocracy based on personal responsibility. Many black Proud Boys are members of the #blexit movement, for example.

2- “Proud Boys are violent.” This is easy to disprove. The media ignores this salient question but it dispels the myth that we pick fights: “Why aren’t the Proud Boys ever at antifa or communist events?” We don’t go to anarchist book readings or cafes where these people regularly congregate. The Alt-left is very easy to locate yet Proud Boys totally ignore them. This is because Proud Boys believe in free speech and that includes a toxic ideology like communism with a death toll of 100 million behind it.

Every confrontation you see on the news is Proud Boys defending themselves after antifa show up at a free speech event or something similar. For example, the footage of Rufio Panman knocking out an antifa who beat him with a collapsible baton (twice) is from a Patriot Prayer march where Joey Gibson dared to do a talk and walk down the street. The confrontation our brothers are facing prison for, involved simply walking home after a Gavin McInnes talk. The list goes on.

If Proud Boys have endorsed any kind of pugilism it is ALWAYS in self-defense hence the common motto, “Fuck around and find out.” So far, the only crime they could be guilty of is fighting back a little too enthusiastically. This is not a crime, especially in a climate where “punch a Nazi” is commonplace and “Nazi” is basically defined as “Anyone who supports Trump.”

We are constantly under attack and to sit there and take it isn’t just un-American. It’s potentially fatal. Remember, Proud Boys are always disarmed at these events because they happen within a police barrier and no weapons are allowed. Antifa attack from outside the barrier on our way home, and they are always armed. The weapons they carry often include knives and hammers and other potentially fatal weapons. These aren’t the enemies the Freedom Riders faced during the 1960s. These people want us dead.

3- “Proud Boys are a gang.” Our founder (not our leader, just the guy who started it) said this in a comedy podcast. In context, it would be like WWE founder Vince McMahon saying “I started a cult.” A gang involves central command and commits illegal acts. Neither is true in our case. McInnes has no say in what we do and each chapter is autonomous. We are a men’s club like the Knights of Columbus and we would happily stick to drinking beer together once a month if conservatives weren’t under siege every time one of them does a talk. “Don’t start no shit there wouldn’t be no shit.”

In closing, there were two confrontations that night. Antifa started both. They were arrested for one and we were arrested for the other. We see the whole thing as a grave injustice and are hopeful the courts will see they are being used for political gains.